Chapter 6: A House-Vamp

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....at the end of the last chapter...

"Sunrise is coming. We should probably get some sleep, and head to Sunnydale this evening," Angel suggested. He still didn't believe Giles, but wanted to go to Sunnydale and see matters for himself.

The group agreed, and Giles went to let the Scoobies know when to expect them.

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" 'ello?" Buffy's bleary voice answered the phone.

"Oh, ah, Buffy, sorry to have woken you. Angel and a few of his coworkers will be arriving with me tonight. Could you please inform the others?" Giles asked politely.

"Uh-huh."

::Click!::

"Hm, she hung up. Ah well, time for me to catch some sleep," Giles muttered to himself.

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...Several hours later....

" Slayer! Would you wake the bloody hell up?!" an annoying voice interrupted her sleep.

"Wha-? 'm sleepin'..."

"Come on, Slayer, I'm bored!" the voice whined.

Buffy heaved a sigh as she reluctantly rolled out of her warm, cozy bed.

"Stupid vampire. Aren't you supposed to sleep during the day?" she asked snottily as she walked into Dawn's bedroom, where her 'guest' had been chained up. Dawn had stayed overnight with Xander and Anya.

"Yeah, well, I never do anythin' I'm supposed to." Spike grinned cheekily at her. He thought she looked adorable, with her bed-head hair and rumpled clothing.

"Y'know, that's not actually a good thing," Buffy groused as she unlocked the chains holding him to the bed.

"Is to me!" Spike laughed, jumping up out of the bed. He hated being confined; his normal hyperactivity usually had him moving around constantly.

"I'm gonna go heat up some blood downstairs," Spike told Buffy. Noticing her tired expression, he said more gently, "Why don't you go get some more sleep."

Stubborn as always, Buffy shook her head, feeling she had to watch her charge whenever he wasn't locked up.

"Buffy, nobody else is home! What, you think I'm gonna go runnin' out into broad daylight to grab someone?"

She rolled her eyes. "Spike, you go out into the daylight all the time."

"Fine, you wanna take all the blankets in the house so I can't leave?" he asked impatiently.

Buffy eyed him suspiciously. "Promise you won't leave the house?"

"Promise."

A few more tense seconds passed before Buffy nodded decisively. " 'k, I'm gonna head back to bed. Clean up after yourself in the kitchen."

"What do ya think I am, domesticated or somethin'?" Spike protested.

Buffy just raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Yeah," she threw over her shoulder as she went back to bed.

Muttering curses, Spike headed downstairs.

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Buffy slept for another hour or so. Yawning, she got up to take a shower before eating. When she got downstairs, she was amazed to find a plate of eggs and hash browns sitting in her place, along with a glass of orange juice.

Hearing the tv in the other room, she went to confront Spike, holding the plate in her hand.

"What is this?" Buffy asked, brandishing the plate.

"Uh, eggs and hash browns... somethin' wrong with 'em? Not cold, are they?"

"No, it's just... I was just surprised, that's all..."

"Yeah, well, I figured a hungry Slayer is a grumpy Slayer," Spike told her casually, obviously trying not to make a big deal of it.

For a vampire who claimed he wasn't domesticated, he sure knew his way around the kitchen. But Buffy kept that thought to herself, hoping she'd get to enjoy more food from him in the future.

"Well, uh... thanks, Spike," she choked out before racing back to the kitchen.

"Anytime," he murmured, too quietly to be heard. He knew he was domesticated, housebroken, tamed - but for her it was more than worth it.

'Yeah, I'm still Love's Bitch, all right...'

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After Buffy had finished breakfast and cleaned up, she puttered about in the kitchen for a little longer than necessary. Dawn would be at school still, and Willow and Tara were either in class or at the Magic Box, probably. That left her alone with Spike for several more hours.

With nothing else to do, she wandered into the family room. There she found Spike - who'd been so insistent he couldn't sleep any more this morning - asleep on the sofa.

The first thing she noticed was a line of sunlight, slowly creeping toward him as the day went on. He'd accidentally left some curtains open.

'Stupid vampire,' she thought as she jerked the curtains closed. 'Surprised he hasn't accidentally dusted himself before this!'

Buffy paused, thinking back to the time when he'd wanted to take his own unlife. At the time, she'd really hadn't cared that much. But things change so quickly... that was, what, only two or three years ago? And now, a life without Spike in it sounded.... very dull, she decided. It wasn't that she liked him or anything, but he did make things more interesting, that was all. Really.

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A/N: Thanks once more for the reviews, they really help with the writing. I wish I could e-mail you individually and respond, but unfortunately I can't see the e-mail addresses, even of those who've signed in! All I see is a little question mark. Grrr, argh.

Sorry this is short. I don't have the next part written yet, but hopefully it'll be up within a few days.